Skidding device for railway-cars.



s. P. BRADSHAW. SKIDDING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 28, 1908.

Patented June 14,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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Inventor, Samuel R Bradshaw,

Witnesses:

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1 APPLICATION FILED D120. 23, 1908. 961,098, Patented June 14,1910.

2 BHEBTS.SHEBT 2.

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Samuel P. Bradshaw m k by W qqttlg mmzw a GRAHAM c0. FNOTu-UTNOGRAPMDIS. WASHINGTON. I) c.

UNITED STATES PATENT onnfron.

SAMUEL P. BRADSHAW, 0F PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SKIDDING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. BRADSHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skidding Devices for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway-car skidding devices employed temporarily to carry the car to a convenient stalling point, when for any reason the wheels become defective or inoperative.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of suitable means for the support and conveyance of a railway-car over the track-rails whenever the normal carriage portion of the car is broken or otherwise rendered inoperative, independently of the wheels or axle.

For the accomplishment of the foregoing and other purposes I have constructed a skidding device consisting essentially of a rigid portable frame adapted to be interposed between the car-truck or one end of the'car-body and the trackrails, oppositely disposed skids secured in fixed relation to the frame and engaging the track-rails, and suitable means for holding the frame in position so that the car may be moved either backward or forward.

The use of skidding devices of the same general class heretofore devised is generally limited to cars moved only in one direction and having axles remaining unimpaired. I have, therefore, provided a device which is not only adapted for use in the more frequent emergency of injuries to the car-wheel flange, but which has for its further object and is shown by practical application to possess equal efliciency under other conditions as above mentioned. Furthermore, I provide a device'which is adapted to carry the cars over frogs and switches and around curves of any radius and which is adapted to maintain the car center directly over the track center.

Reference may be had to the drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like parts are indicated by like reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car-truck having a wheel with a broken flange, and portions of a car-body and track-rail, showing the location and preferred manner of Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 14 191() Application filed. December 23, 1908.

Serial No. 468,953.

attachment of my device when in use; Fig. 2, a rear elevation of the same showing a broken car-wheel axle, the attachment chains of my device being removed; Fig. 3, a detail sectional face view of a wheel and axle,

shown with relation to the corresponding" skid and track-rail, represented in crosssection on the line Z-Z of Fig. 4; Fig. 4, a detail longitudinal sectional view of a wheel and skid on the line XX of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, a top plan view of my device, the attachment chains being removed.

Referring to the drawings, a car-body 1 is shown as supported at one end upon a truckframe 2 having two sets of oppositely disposed wheels 3, each set being mounted upon an axle 4C and normally engaging the trackrails 5. Interposed between one set of carwheels 3 and the corresponding track-rails 5 are separate skids or shoes 6 of a longitudinally curved formation substantially resembling segments of a car-wheel rim, having an even convex face bearing centrally upon the tread of the track-rail and an even concave supporting or mounting surface. Each of the skids 6 is provided with a depending flange 7 adapted to engage the inside edge of the respective track-rail 5, with longitudinal spaced recesses 9 at central points on its face which are adapted to be filled with a preferred form of lubricant, and with graduated ends each terminating in a shoulder 8 formed at an obtuse angle with the mounting surface. Interposed between the face of the car-wheel 3 and the skid 6 is a skid-band 11, conformed to the longitudinally concave surface of the skid and provided with shouldered ends 12 engaging the shoulders 8 of the skid. The skid-band 11 is further provided centrally with a depending threaded stud 13 which engages with a coincident tapped recess provided in the top of the skid, preferably between the recesses 9, the corresponding ends of the skid and skid-band being secured together by flat-head screws 14 engaging coincident apertures provided therein, those of the skid being suitably tapped for the purpose.

The interior edge of the skid-band 11 is disposed substantially in a plane with the interior side of the track-rail 5 and adapted to be engaged by the flange 10 of the car wheel 3, the skid-band being of suflicient thickness to prevent the flange 10 from resting upon the skid 6.

The skids 6 are held in oppositely disposed relation by two rigid tie-beams 15 secured to the corresponding shoulders 12 of the skid-bands 11 by bolts 16, the tie-beams being connected at points intermediate their ends by spaced cross-arms 17 and severally reinforced by sub-beams 19 of less length I than the tie-beams 15 and secured against the undersides thereof by double sets of bolts 18. the latter being employed to engage and hold the cross-arms 17 also in aosition.

The cross-arms 17 are disposed under either end of the motor-box 22, which is carried by the car-truck and disposed about the axle &, and are adapted to support the same in normal horizontal position in event of the axle being broken.

The frame thus formed by the skid-bands 11 and connecting tie-beams 15, with engaged parts, is provided at each of its four corners with chains 20 which are fastened around some convenient portion of the truckframe 2 or to the car-body 1, the chains being drawn taut by turn-buckles 21 provided terminally thereon and attached to the bolts 16 of the frame.

By fastening the chains :20 in the manner described the skidding device will be drawn forward by the progress of the car, or drawn backward when the car moves in the reverse direction, one end of the car-truck with the defective running gear being carried upon it. Thus it may be seen that the device provided is equally useful in event of a broken axle or a defective car-wheel since it is independent of the presence or condition of either, provided the motor-box is supported upon the skid-frame.

The lubricant, preferably a mixture of graphite and grease, placed in the recesses 9 of the skid is of such a nature as to gradually ooze out upon the face of the skid when fused by the heat generated in travel and thereby reduce the friction with the tread of the track-rail.

The skid is made of sufficiently soft iron or other material, however, to prevent injury to the track-rail independently of the lubricant, and may be removed from engagement with the skid-band 11 and replaced by a new casting when flattened by wear.

Lifting-jacks are preferably employed to raise the car-truck sufficiently to interpose the skidding device and for removing the same.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. An adjustable skidding device to be inserted under the car-body or truck of a car of the class described for the support. of the car upon trackrails independently ofthe car-wheels or axle.

2. An adjustable skidding device to be inserted under the car-body or truck of a 'air of the class described for the support of the car upon the track-rails independently of i the car-wheels or axle and comprising means j for preventing downward displacement of the car-wheels or axle. 3. In a device of the class described, the combination of an adjustable frame to be l inserted under the cartruck, skidding de vices provided on the frame for engaging j opposite track-rails, and means for securing the frame in position whereby the device l may be moved in a forward or reverse di rection with the car riding upon it.

at. In a device of the class described, the combination of a movable frame to be inserted under the car-truck, means for supporting the car independently of the carwheels or axle, securing means, and skidding devices secured to opposite sides of the frame for engaging separate track-rails.

5. A device of the class described comprising a frame to be inserted under the car-body or truck of the car, skidding devices arranged on the frame for engaging separate track-rails, and means for preventing downward displacement of the carwheels or axle.

6. A device of the class described to be inserted under the car-body or truck of the car and adapted to support the'car upon the track-rails independently of the car-wheels and when moved in a forward or reverse direction, and comprising separate skid members to be interposed between opposite carwheels and the respective track-rails, and means for securing the skid members in fixed relation to each other.

7. An adjustable skidding device to be inserted under the car-body or truck of a car of the class described and adapted to carry the car upon the track-rails and comprising separate skid members engaging 0pposite track-rails, rig-id members uniting the skid members and securing them in fixed relation to each other, and means provided on said rigid members for supporting the car independently of the carwheels.

8. A device of the class described comprising separate skid members engaging opposite track-rails, a movable frame securing the skid members in fixed relation to each other and adapted to carry the car on the track-rails independently of the car-wheels or axle, and adjustable means for securing the frame in position under the truck of the car whereby the car may be moved in a forward or reverse direction.

9. A device of the class described comprising a rigid frame, skid-members secured to opposite sides of the frame for engaging separate track-rails, fixed members provided intermediate the skid-members and secured transversely of the frame for the support of the car-body or truck, and adjustable members provided on opposite sides of the frame for securing the frame in position to be drawn in a forward or reverse direction.

10. A skidding device for railway-cars comprising a skid of longitudinally curved formation having a convex tread or face, a concave mounting or top surface for the reccption of a car-wheel, and a depending flange on its inside edge for engaging the track-rail, and means for holding the skid in fixed position between the face of the car-wheel and the tread of the track-rail so that it may be drawn by the car forward or backward with the car-wheel riding upon it.

11. In a device of the class described the combination with a rigid frame or support, of skid members provided at opposite sides of the frame and adapted to slidably engage opposite track-rails, said skid members having recessed openings upon their faces adapted to be filled with a lubricant, for the purpose set forth.

12. A skidding device of the class described comprising oppositely disposed skids of a longitudinally curved formation engaging separate track-rails and having an even convex tread and an even concave top surface, separate skid-bands conformed to the top surfaces of the respective skids and providing mounting surfaces for the support of corresponding car-wheels, means for removably securing the skids to the skidbands, means for holding the skids in fixed position relatively to each other, and sepa rate means for securing the skids to the carbody or truck whereby the skids may be drawn forward or backward, responsive to the movements of the car, with the carwheels riding upon them.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL P. BRADSHAW. Witnesses ALEXANDER SHAW, MICHAEL L. EIsNER. 

